


Advice

by Seal_in_Cyberspace



Series: RWBY Stories [19]
Category: RWBY
Genre: F/F, First Night in Atlas fic, Fluff, Maria and Yang talk, Soft Bees, Yang's a mess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-18
Updated: 2019-05-18
Packaged: 2020-03-07 05:39:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18866851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Seal_in_Cyberspace/pseuds/Seal_in_Cyberspace
Summary: Written using both the 'Kiss on the cheek' and 'kiss on the other's ear' prompts.~“I’m- I kind of… I don’t know how to explain it. I mean, I feel like I should be happy that Adam isn’t a threat anymore but I just feel… hollow. Like, I don’t feel anything about it. I’m just… indifferent. I’ve spent so long running from him, that I don’t really know what to do with myself now.”“Now, you can be you. Allow yourself to have those freedoms that he made it his life goal to take away.”She notices Blake’s eyebrows knit together, then the faunus is looking at her, staring right back into her eyes. Yang’s eyes widen the slightest bit as she notices Blake’s gaze move down the slightest bit before she glances away again. “I don’t know what to do.” Blake says, and Yang’s heart stops.“Well, what’s something you’ve always wanted to do that you couldn’t without lingering thoughts of him? You can always start small. Anything come to mind?”





	Advice

The night is quiet. Too quiet, and it’s starting to put Yang on edge. After landing in Atlas, they'd decided fairly quickly to stay in an inn and get some rest before needing to deal with any higher powers. They got two rooms altogether, team RWBY and Maria in one, and the remainder of team JNPR, Oscar, and Qrow in the other. Maria had insisted that the younger girls take the two beds, so she’s sitting on the couch across the room, but she’s still awake and staring out the window. Yang stares up at the ceiling, her mind going wild. It constantly drifts between the faunus asleep next to her and Adam, but mostly the prior. Something in their relationship shifted throughout the day, but neither of them talked about it, too much had happened today for them to. She wanted to talk with someone about it, but Ruby and Weiss had drifted off to sleep quite a while ago, so she couldn’t talk to them. Plus, Blake had finally fallen asleep ten minutes before, and she’d had a stressful day so Yang wasn’t about to wake her up.

 

Realizing she wasn’t going to get any sleep, Yang silently sits up in the bed. She throws a quick glance down at Blake, who she realizes had fallen asleep facing her. She finds herself momentarily unable to look away from her partner who she’s beginning to notice a lot of little things about. She notices a small twitch of the girl’s ear atop her head, sees the way Blake’s eyebrows slightly pinch together before relaxing, most likely a sign that she’s dreaming. A few strands of hair had fallen to cascade over Blake’s face, and Yang finds herself unconsciously reaching down to move them behind her human ear. Blake’s feline ear twitches again, a slight smile pulling at her lips, but Yang can tell she’s still asleep from the steady rhythm of her breathing. Yang smiles softly at the sight before finally prying her eyes away. She glances over at Maria, sees the reflection of her open, mechanical, blue eyes in the glass of the window. Yang quietly swings her legs over the edge of the bed, both hands helping her push herself off of it as she stands.

 

Her legs still hurt, sore from overexertion. After a moment of trying to catch her balance, she takes a step towards the woman formerly known as the Grimm Reaper. She stops at her side as she realizes that she doesn’t want to disturb the woman’s silence. _Meh_ , too late. Maria must have heard her get up, so she already did. “Maria?” Yang quietly asks, knowing the older woman is still awake where she sits on the couch.

 

Maria’s head turns towards her, a small smile pulling at her lips, “I was wondering when you’d finally come over here.” she says playfully, and Yang smiles sheepishly in return, “Sit.”

 

Maria nods towards the seat beside her, so Yang does as she’s told, her hands clasping uneasily in her lap as she rests her shoulders against the back of the couch. There’s a silence that stretches between them for a while, as Yang is unsure what to say. All she had known was that she wanted to talk to someone, she didn’t really consider what about. Her mind drifts back to Blake, and she sighs. _Okay_ , she knows _what_ she wanted to talk about, but wanting to and actually doing it are two completely different things. She’s not used to putting her feelings out in the open, but then again, she’s never felt this way before. Not this _strongly_.

 

“I can _hear_ you thinking, kid.” Maria says after a few minutes pass, and Yang snaps out of her inner monologue.

 

“Sorry, I’m just… I have a lot on my mind.” Yang responds, just a bit too quickly.

 

“Oh, I’m sure. You have a lot of weight resting on your shoulders, Yang.” Maria says, her eyes going back to the window, watching the still busy streets of Atlas down below.

 

“Yeah…” Yang agrees, but Maria can feel the extra weight in her words, can tell that Yang is thinking about more than she probably wanted her to know. Maria curses these kids’ luck, they’re way too young to have the world’s safety on their shoulders.

 

“Something in particular on your mind?” Maria asks in a whisper, and Yang glances at her.

 

“Kind of, yeah.” Yang replies, and Maria lets out a little chuckle.

 

“Did you want to talk about it?” the older woman implores, and Yang’s gaze returns to the hands that she has clasped in her lap.

 

“Just wondering why my heart chose the person it did. If it knows how much it complicates things.” Yang mutters, a blush dusting her cheeks, and Maria raises her eyebrows in surprise.

 

Maria smiles despite Yang’s words, then shakes her head. She’s noticed the way Yang’s been acting around a _certain_ member of their group. “What would it complicate?” Maria decides to ask, curious as to why Yang would think that.

 

Yang hesitates, clearly trying to withhold some information, “We work so closely together… if I told them and they didn’t reciprocate…”

 

“ _Them_?” Maria asks teasingly, and Yang’s blush darkens.

 

“I- yeah. _Them_ . Well, _not_ \- Not, _um_ …” Yang takes a deep breath, then finally relents, “Loving her scares me.”

 

Maria’s gaze falls back on Yang, easily noticing the way that the young blonde is closing in on herself, but whether it’s from the fright of admittance, or the weight of the words in her own heart, the older huntress doesn’t know. “Don’t let it scare you. Love is a wonderful thing.”

 

“But the possibility of rejection _isn’t._ ” Yang says glumly, and Maria laughs.

 

“Yeah, _well_ , you seem to be rejecting _yourself_ , which isn’t really _better._ ”

 

Yang falls silent at that. She hadn’t really noticed that she was doing that, but Maria’s right, she _is_. “I don’t know what to do, Maria.”

 

Maria sighs. “I know, Yang.” she murmurs softly, but she isn’t really sure how to help the young girl. She’s never experienced love before, she always prioritized other things. She decides to say, “For what it’s worth, I’m sure Blake would be elated to hear about this.”

 

Yang doesn’t even seem surprised to hear her partner's name fall from Maria’s lips. She knows how obvious she’s been, and she knows that Maria has lived long enough to be able to read others well. “I’m not so sure.” Yang replies.

 

“And _why_ is that?” Maria asks solemnly.

 

“I-” Yang trails off.

 

“If you can provide one good reason besides ‘ _because I just know_ ’, I’ll agree with you.” Maria says after a moment of tense silence.

 

Yang meets the mechanical eyes of her elder, then her eyes drop to the floor. “I can’t.” she admits quietly.

 

“So you have no reason to believe she wouldn’t feel the same way.” Maria concludes with a tilt of her head, and Yang blushes.

 

“I have no reason to believe she _would_ either.” she drawls, and Maria merely shakes her head in response.

 

“You’re pretty pessimistic, aren’t you?”

 

“Not usually.” Yang replies, and Maria sighs.

 

There’s another long silence that follows after, but this time neither of them are the one to break it. “Yang?”

 

Yang jumps slightly in her seat, she hadn’t expected to hear anyone call her. She glances behind her, and quickly finds the eyes of her partner staring back at her from the bed. “Uh- _hey…”_ Yang says back softly, suddenly worried that Blake had overheard their conversation as the faunus walks over to the seat she’s sitting on.

 

“Well, I need to go shower.” Maria suddenly says, using her weapon-turned-cane to help herself stand up, and walk away from the couch, but the two younger girls stare after her.

 

“Are you sure you can…?” Blake says, but ends up trailing off as Maria waves fruitlessly in the air.

 

“I’ll be fine.” she assures, before walking into the washroom, leaving Blake and Yang alone.

 

Neither of them move for a moment before Yang smiles softly at Blake, tilting her head towards the now-empty spot on the couch. “Don’t be a stranger, Blake. Come sit.” she says with confidence, but she’s clearly nervous.

 

Blake doesn’t hesitate to sit on the spot of the couch Maria had been in a few moments before, and she immediately reaches her hand across the space between them to intertwine their fingers together. Yang smiles down at their hands. _This_ is the development in their relationship that had happened today that she doesn't find herself _minding_ in the slightest. “Are you okay?” Blake whispers to break the silence.

 

“As okay as I can be, I guess. We went through a lot today. What about you?” Yang asks, rubbing her thumb gently across the back of Blake’s hand, she wants to move closer to her, but she knows she shouldn’t.

 

“I’m- I kind of… I don’t know how to explain it. I mean, I feel like I should be happy that Adam isn’t a threat anymore but I just feel… _hollow._ Like, I don’t _feel_ anything about it. I’m just… indifferent. I’ve spent _so_ long running from him, that I don’t really know what to do with myself now.”

 

“Now?” Yang says, then glances up from their hands, her gaze falling on the side of Blake’s face, watching the way her eyes skim across the streets down below, “Now, you can be you. Allow yourself to have those freedoms that he made it his life goal to take away.”

 

She notices Blake’s eyebrows knit together, then the faunus is looking at her, staring right back into her eyes. Yang’s eyes widen the slightest bit as she notices Blake’s gaze move down the slightest bit before she glances away again. “I don’t know what to do.” Blake says, and Yang’s heart stops.

 

Due to where Blake’s eyes had been a few seconds before, Yang highly doubts that statement, but she doesn’t want to push her. “Well, what’s something you’ve always wanted to do that you couldn’t without lingering thoughts of him? You can always start small. Anything come to mind?”

 

Blake bites her lip, then she stands from the couch without dropping her hand from Yang’s grasp. Yang looks up at her with curious eyes, but she doesn’t have to wait very long to see what Blake had been doing. Blake sits down again, but this time she’s right beside Yang and she pulls her hand over her shoulders. Yang allows a smile to slip onto her lips as Blake leans against her, her head falling to rest against her. Blake intertwines the fingers of her right hand with Yang’s left that’s now slinging across her shoulders. “I’m inclined to say that this was a nice choice.” Yang whispers as she adjusts her arm so she’s more comfortable, pulling Blake impossibly closer as she does so.

 

Blake lets out a small laugh in response, then Yang leans her cheek against the top of Blake’s head between her ears. She feels one of them flick against the underside of her chin and lets out a laugh of her own. She leans a bit closer, and leaves a kiss to the base of Blake’s other ear, and she feels the shorter girl curl into her more. “You make me feel safe.” Blake says slowly, and Yang smiles, “I’m sorry. For everything I’ve put you through. I really don't deserve the second chance.”

 

 “I forgave you a while ago, Blake. Yeah, it killed me when you left, but you came back. You explained yourself, and even though I still don't... even though there were better ways it could've been handled, I'm happy to have you by my side again. For what it's worth, I know you're aware of how badly you messed up, but I can see that you're doing everything in your power to prove yourself to us again. To _me_. I wish you never left, but I believe that things always happen for a reason, and in the end, I think it made us stronger. We've had our bond tested, and I personally think we're doing pretty well. I... know you wouldn't hurt me like that again. I can see that your apologies are genuine. That you never meant to hurt me.”

 

“They are. Sometimes I wish I could go back and take that pain that I caused away from you, but it's too late to change the past. Just know, I'd _never_ leave again _._  I’m right where I want to be, Yang. With _you…_ in your arms.” Blake responds, and Yang is so overwhelmed with emotion that she doesn’t know how to respond, so she decides to just leave another kiss to Blake’s ear.

 

There’s so many words she could use to respond. _I love you, I’ll always love you, You make me feel safe too._ Instead, she stays quiet, just pressing a little closer to the girl beside her. Eventually, Yang drifts off, finally falling asleep. The faunus’ notices the way the blonde’s breathing evens out, and glances up at her to take in the relaxed expression on the girl’s face. Blake smiles. Without much thought, she leans forward and leaves a kiss to Yang’s cheek. Yang doesn’t respond in anyway, and Blake uses that as a confirmation that she’s asleep, and whispers, “I love you, Yang.”

 

Her head falls back to Yang’s shoulder with a content smile, letting her eyes drift shut. Less than a few minutes later, Blake is asleep too.

 

Maria walks into the room after a while, and smiles at the sight of the two girls on the couch. “Well, looks like I’m taking the bed then.” she muses to herself, “Maybe I should give advice more often.”

 

She walks over to the bed, then sits on the edge. She glances at Blake and Yang again, then smiles to herself with a shake of her head. “Not so bad for a defenseless old lady, hmm?”


End file.
